Diabetics at higher risk of colon cancer
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A new study confirms that individuals with diabetes are much more likely to develop colon cancer than individuals without diabetes. This makes abiding by colorectal cancer screening guidelines especially important for diabetics.
Investigators reported the study findings this week at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Honolulu.
“We thought that diabetics would be at increased risk of colon cancer because receptors for insulin are present on (colon tissue),” co-investigator Dr. Donald Garrow told Reuters Health. “So if you have high levels of insulin, as diabetics often do for years, that attack on the colonic mucosa can lead to changes that can become colon cancer.”
Cell culture studies have also suggested that high blood sugar, which characterizes diabetes, is also a promoter of colon cancer growth, he added.
To look for more direct evidence of an association between diabetes and colon cancer, the research team, based at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, analyzed data from the 1997-2003 National Health Interview Survey. Out of the roughly 227,000 individuals surveyed, about 6 percent had a history of diabetes.
After adjusting for potentially confounding factors such as age, race, sex, obesity, alcohol and tobacco use and physical activity, the researchers found that people with diabetes were about 40 percent more likely to have colon cancer compared with individuals without diabetes.
Overall, diabetes was associated with a 59 percent increased risk of developing colon cancer. Other significant risk factors included age older than 50 years, white race, and smoking.
Garrow said his team is in the process of evaluating whether colon cancer develops earlier in diabetics and if glycemic control can reduce the risk. In the meantime, he advised, “if you are a white diabetic age 50 or older who used to smoke, you really need to adhere to current colorectal cancer screening guidelines.”
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